Tuesday, November 13, 2007

It seems that every day that every time we walk into the record label and meet someone new the first question asked of us is…Do you speak Spanish? Well, we don’t and the constant question began to make us think that something was wrong with us.

Growing up our families only spoke English. Our schools were 80% hispanic kids and 70% of them only spoke English. It wasn’t until signing with a major mainstream record label that we started to think that maybe we weren’t all that Mexican at all. Even though we don’t speak Spanish we still embrace our Mexican culture and practice all of the traditions. We thought about it for a second and got a little angry that we allowed other people to make us feel like something was wrong with us. We are proud of our Mexican heritage and culture. We are going to stand strong in representing our culture in everything that we do in this business. We realized that we need to have some patience and start to educate the people working with us. It’s frustrating when someone wants to put you into the “Spanish box” because you are Latin. The mainstream THINKS that because we are Mexican we are supposed to be confined to a certain area of very traditional Latin music. What they don’t understand is that we embrace our culture and we are VERY proud of being Mexican but that as 3rd generation Latin females, we live in the mainstream and we want to be a form of entertainment for EVERYBODY. We want everyone to know how great it is to be Latin. We want to create music that lives in the mainstream but is grounded in our culture. We want to stand next to Fergie, Rihanna, Beyonce and Gwen Stefani and rock it with all of our Latina style and have the world singing with us!! We’re so glad to have each other to lean on as we take on the mainstream and educate them about what it is to be Latina in 2007 and show them what it means to be Chilosa baby!!!

21 comments:

u should embrace the spanish language... Because that's were we come from... And to expand as a Artist, not only a Latino one, You should be able to speak to the fans who love your music, and the Latin American people do speak spanish and may not undestand a word of english, and would like to relate to an artist & what a better way than through a commom language...

=) ey im mexican and i speak spanish but uhhh, theres some times that i cant really say things right u knwo cuz im not from mexico, and u know honestly theres sometimes that u know i studder cuz i cant really say it things right but im stil proud to be a mexican =D...yeah it does get pretty frustrating when ppl tell u "wat kind of mexican cant speak spanish?!"..yup yup, as long as ur proud of who!=)

q-vo chilosas one of the reasons ima fan is because of who you are. i speak espanol, english and if i could speak french that would be cool. but it dont matter what language you speak but if you are proud of who you are. arriba mexico and prima j!!!!

nothing wrong with not speaking Spanish. i'm latina as well but i do speak it but unfortunately my sister doesn't because when she was little we only spoke English to her. there are a lot of latin people that don't speak the language and i can respect that and hear where they are coming. i mean, it might be something you might regret every once in awhile but if you really wanted to learn, you'll always have that option no matter waht. for real, keep it real. you girls are great and i love your msuic. keep it up!

Spanish is the biggest part of the culture and you are ignoring it. Wanting to break into the industry and get the respect or your raza is important and it's a big market. Not knowing spanish will hurt you! Also you are not Latina, you are MEXICAN! Latinos are the white people of Latin America, Hispanics are the people of Spain and Europe. Learn about your culture, not knowing or learning spanish is degrading to you raza!

A reply to Garcia13’s comment …”you are not Latina, you are MEXICAN” dude you are wrong ... LATINA / LATINO are defined in English language dictionaries as:"A person of Latin-American or Spanish-speaking descent."[1]"A person of Hispanic, especially Latin-American, descent, often one living in the United States."[2]"A native or inhabitant of Latin America"[3]"A person of Latin-American origin living in the United States"[3]"Someone who lives in the US and who comes from or whose family comes from Latin America"[4]

The two words originate in American Spanish Latino and Latina (from Latin Latinus, Latina), either meaning "Latin", or possibly a clipped form of Latino-Americano, "Latin American".[1][2][3]

In the United States, the term is in official use in the ethnonym Hispanic or Latino, defined as "a person of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin regardless of race Nevertheless, some authorities of American English maintain a distinction between the terms "Hispanic" and "Latino":

"Though often used interchangeably in American English, Hispanic and Latino are not identical terms, and in certain contexts the choice between them can be significant. Hispanic, from the Latin word for "Spain," has the broader reference, potentially encompassing all Spanish-speaking peoples in both hemispheres and emphasizing the common denominator of language among communities that sometimes have little else in common. Latino—which in Spanish means "Latin" but which as an English word is probably a shortening of the Spanish word Latino-Americano—refers more exclusively to persons or communities of Latin American origin. Of the two, only Hispanic can be used in referring to Spain and its history and culture; a native of Spain residing in the United States is a Hispanic, not a Latino, and one cannot substitute Latino in the phrase the Hispanic influence on native Mexican cultures without garbling the meaning. In practice, however, this distinction is of little significance when referring to residents of the United States, most of whom are of Latin American origin and can theoretically be called by either word."[9]

Heck yes I speak Spanish. It was the first language I was introduced to since birth. Although I was born here in the U.S. & been living here ever since, I am very proud of my culture and I embrace it oh so deeply. Speaking Spanish and English has worked to my advantage. So many doors to great opportunities open to you when you are bilingual. Keep up the great work girls. I love your music!!-Esme

So basically i feel them 100% ; just cause yhur not a spanish speaker doesnt mean yhur not LATINA OR HISPANIC. Im a mexican-american tooo & i dont speak spanish eithhherrr.. & it doesnt make me any less MEXICAN. i forever been asked if i speak spanish & always been told YHU AINT REALLY MEXICAN -- YHUR HALF. yeahhh right...... i wasent taught spanish cause my parents werent taught spanish -- BECAUSE their parents wer soo judged over it they didnt want there children to bee either. soo basically i would speak spanish if eye wanted too - but just because WE dont.. doesnt mean that we arent mexican , latin or hispanic ; whatever yhu wana call it. Well... I think that Prima J are great role models for females who dont speak spanish & feel thee same way we do. they'll bee BIG.. there gorgeous & quit hatin bruh [; hahaha. THAT GARCIA13 guy needs to quit ASAP!! ahahah. he must not know much about thee latin culture.